Hadith al Qudsi holds a unique and special place among the different Hadith types. Allah Almighty has unveiled His Mercy, Forgiveness, Favours and Bestowals upon His servants, His Independent Being and His Might and Power in these special Hadiths. The reading of these Hadiths brings a strange yet electrifying effect in the hearts of the readers. If these Hadiths are read with apt understanding and with a sincere intention of heart, then they will produce sweetness of Faith {‘Iman’} and spiritual loftiness along with happiness which will connect one with Allah Almighty and will bring extreme Love for Him.

The Meaning and Definition of Hadith al Qudsi

The scholars of Hadith have given different definitions of Hadith al Qudsi and if we deeply study them, we come to know that the words of expression are different but the meanings of these definitions are same.

Sayyid Shareef Jurjani while defining Hadith al Qudsi writes:

“Hadith al Qudsi is one which according to its meaning is from Allah Almighty and according to its wordings is from the Prophet. The meaning of which Allah relates to the Prophet through Inspiration {‘Ilham’} or through a Dream and then the Prophet expresses it in his own words. The Holy Quran however is superior and meritorious than the Hadith al Qudsi because the words of the Holy Quran are also revealed from Allah Almighty.” {At Ta’rifaat; 45}

Imam Mulla Ali Qari states:

“Hadith al Qudsi are those Hadiths which the Prophet narrates from Allah Almighty. come sometimes through the medium of Jibrail, sometimes in the form of Revelation {‘Wahi’}, Inspiration {‘Ilham’} or through Dreams. The explanation is entrusted to the Prophet so that they can be narrated in any wordings of his choice.” {Al Ahadith al Qudsiya al Arbayiniya; 2}

A Doubt and its Clarification

A doubt may arise at this place that the Hadiths of the Prophet pertaining to the religious and other issues of Here-after also come from Allah Almighty in the form of Inspiration and are derivatives of Revelation {‘Wahi’}.

Allah Almighty says:

وَمَا يَنطِقُ عَنِ الْهَوَىٰ ﴿٣﴾ إِنْ هُوَ إِلَّا وَحْيٌ يُوحَىٰ

And he does not say anything by his own desire. It is but a divine revelation, which is revealed to him.

{An Najm;3-4}

And the Prophet himself said: "Indeed! I have been given the Book (i.e. the Holy Quran) and its Likenes." {Sunan Abu Dawud, Kitab us Sunnah}

It can be deduced in the light of the above mentioned Ayah of the Holy Quran and Hadith that the Hadiths of the Prophet are also from Allah Almighty and are based upon the Revelation {‘Wahi’} of Allah Almighty.

In answer to this doubt, the Scholars have said that it is correct that both Hadith al Qudsiya and other Hadiths are from Allah Almighty and are base upon the Revelation {‘Wahi’} of Allah Almighty but the reason Hadith al Qudsiya are meritorious than other Hadiths is because of their attribution towards Allah Almighty. For example, the Prophet says, “Allah said”, this particular speciality is not in other Hadiths but infact they are attributed towards the Prophet.

Dr. Izzuddin Ibrahim writes:

“The difference between Hadith al Qudsi and Hadith an Nabvi is that the Chain of Narration {‘Sanad’} of Hadith an Nabvi ends on the Prophet where as the Chain of Narration {‘Sanad’} of Hadith al Qudsi ends on Allah Almighty.” {Al Arbayun ul Qudsiya; pg: 26}

The difference between the Holy Quran and Ahadith al Qudsiya

The Holy Quran is also from Allah Almighty and the meaning of Hadith al Qudsiya is also from Him. Then, how will we differentiate between these two?

Imam Mulla Ali Qari says:

“The Praiseworthy Quran {‘Quran ul Hameed’} and the Glorious Criterion for Judgement {‘Furqan ul Majeed’} is different from Ahadith al Qudsiya on the basis that the Revelation of the Holy Quran took place only through the Faithful Soul {i.e. Sayyiduna Jibrail} and in a prescribed way its Words were Revealed from the Protected Tablet {‘Lawh ul Mahfuz’} and also that the Holy Quran has been transmitted to us en mass in every generation.” {Al Ahadith al Qudsiya al Arbayiniya; 2}

1. The Holy Quran is Miracle {‘Mu’jiza’} both in ‘Words’ and ‘Meaning’. The Creation cannot bring an equal to it. This speciality is not present in Hadith al Qudsi.

2. The Holy Quran was completely Revealed through Sayyiduna Jibrail where as in case of Ahadith al Qudsiya, some were sent to the Prophet through Sayyiduna Jibrail while other were made known through Inspiration {‘Ilham’} or Dreams.

3. The Wordings of the Holy Quran are also from Allah Almighty where as in Ahadith al Qudsi only the Meaning is from Allah Almighty.

4. The Holy Quran is Mass Transmitted {‘Mutawatir’} where as Ahadith al Qudsiya come under Lone Narrator Hadiths {‘Akhbar ul Ahad’}**** Therefore, some of them are Authentic {‘Sahih’}, some are Fair {‘Hasan’} while some are Weak {‘Zaeef’}.

5. The Holy Quran is protected from any kind of Change or Manipulation. Its protection is by Allah Almighty Himself. It is not so with Ahadith al Qudsiya.

6. Muslims get 10 rewards on every Word read from the Holy Quran but such greatness is not there for Hadith al Qudsi.

7. Hadith al Qudsi cannot be read or recited in the Prayer {‘Salah’}, if recited then the Prayer will get nullified.

8. The various parts of the Holy Quran can be called as Verses {‘Ayahs’} and Chapters {‘Surah’} where as Ahadith al Qudsiya can not be called so.

9. As the Holy Quran is Mass Transmitted {‘Mutawatir’}, therefore the one who negates it is an Infidel {‘Kafir’} where as it is not so in the case of Hadith al Qudsi.

10. It is not permitted to touch and read the Holy Quran in the state of Impurity where as it is not so in the case of Hadith al Qudsi.

Types of Hadith al Qudsi

Ahadith al Qudsiya based upon their wordings and topics are of few types. (i) In some Hadith al Qudsiya the Statement of Allah Almighty is clearly mentioned. (ii) In some Hadith al Qudsiya, it is not clearly mentioned that it is the Statement of Allah Almighty but on studying its preceding and following sentences we come to know that its is the Statement of Allah Almighty. (iii) In some Hadiths, there are no Statements of Allah Almighty but an Action of His is been mentioned. (iv) Another type of Ahadith al Qudsiya are that in which no Statement or Action of Allah Almighty is mentioned in the initial parts of the Hadith but it is often a long Hadith in which the proceedings of the Day of Judgement {‘Qiyamah’} or the Here-After are mentioned and in between these words there is a Statement or Action of Allah Almighty.

The Topics discussed in Hadith al Qudsiya

(i) The Proofs of Oneness of Allah {‘Tawhid’} and the Negation of Polytheism {‘Shirk’}, (ii) The Greatness and Sacredness of Allah, (iii) The Greatness of His Mercy and Forgiveness, (iv) The Reward of Deeds and Actions and (v) The Excellence of Good Etiquettes and Mannerisms.

Number of Ahadith al Qudsiya

There are few Ahadith al Qudsiya in the huge treasures of Hadith books and among these few, the number of Authentic {‘Sahih’} Ahadith al Qudsiya are even more less. In the books of Hadith al Qudsiya which have reached me, the ‘Al Ittihafat us Sunniya bil Ahadith ul Qudsiya’ by Shaykh Muhammad Mahmud al Madani is the largest in terms of number. Even in this book the number of Hadiths have not surpassed a total of 853 Hadiths including all types of Hadiths both Authentic {‘Sahih’} and Weak {‘Zaeef’} along with the differences of wordings of Hadiths. If only Authentic {‘Sahih’} Hadiths are collected then they will not reach 853 Hadiths. I am saying this due to my personal experience because when I decided to compile this book I wanted it to contain only Authentic {‘Sahih’} Hadiths but as I went on collecting Authentic Ahadith al Qudsiya I found it difficult to reach even 100 Hadiths (though this also includes my confined knowledge and study). According to an estimate there may 100-150 Authentic {‘Sahih’} Ahadith al Qudsiya. And Allah Almighty Knows Most!

Some Important Books on Ahadith al Qudsiya

Ahadith al Qudsiya has been the centre of attention of the Hadith Masters {‘Muhaddithun’} from early times due to its distinct identity and status. The Hadith Masters have narrated them from their teachers and have mentioned them in their books. I have no knowledge according to my limited study that whether any Hadith Master has compiled these Hadiths separately in a single book during the period when special attention was given to the compilation of Hadiths or not. These Hadiths are thus present in numerous Hadith books under various chapters and topics. They are also present at one place in Hadith books which have been compiled based upon Alphabetical order under the Arabic letter ‘Qaaf’ as the Hadiths start with the words “Qala Allah Ta’ala” {Allah Almighty says}. For example the ‘Jami us Saghir’ and ‘Jami ul Kabir’ of Imam Jalaluddin Suyuti Shafai can be presented. These both Hadith compendiums have been compiled based upon Alphabetical order of Hadiths. Therefore, ‘Jami us Saghir’ contains 66 Ahadiths under the Alphabet “Qaaf” where as ‘Jami ul Kabir’ contains 133 Ahadith al Qudsiya. There are 64 Hadiths which start with the words “Qala Allah Ta’ala” {Allah Almighty says} and 2 Hadiths which start with “Qala Rabbukum” in ‘Jami us Saghir’. According to Imam Suyuti there are 43 Authentic {‘Sahih’}, 6 Fair {‘Hasan’} and 13 Weak {‘Zaeef’} Hadiths while he did not say anything regarding the remaining 4 Hadiths out of these 66 Hadiths.

As we have already said that the tradition of compiling Ahadith al Qudsiya in a separate single book gained momentum with the later day Scholars who compiled books on them and wrote annotations and presented their researches on these Hadiths from different facets.

Imam Hafiz Ibn Hajr Haythami Shafai’ writes:

“Ahadith al Qudsiya are more than 100, some Scholars have compiled them in separate books.” {Al Fath ul Mubeen; pg: 201}

We are presenting introduction to some books on Ahadith al Qudsiya in the following lines.

1. ‘Mishkat ul Anwar fima Rawai Ann Allah Subhanahu minal Akhbar’: This was compiled by Imam Shaykh Muhyuddin Ibn Arabi (d. 638 A.H). It consists of 101 Hadiths and was published from ‘Halb’, Syria in 1927 C.E/ 1346 A.H. Haji Khalifa in ‘Kashf uz Zunun’ has mentioned another book of Shaykh Ibn Arabi titled ‘Riyaz ul Firdausiya fil Ahadith ul Qudsiya.’ I do not know whether both these names are of the same book or are different.

3. ‘Al Ittihaf us Sunniya fil Ahadith al Qudsiya’: This was compiled by Imam Abdur Rauf al Munavi and contains 272 Hadiths. Imam Munavi divided the book in two parts. The first part contains Hadith which start with the words “Qala Allah Ta’ala” and the second part contains Hadiths which start with the words “Qawlahu Ta’ala”. This book has been published from Beirut and Cairo many times. The edition which I have was published from Beirut in 1402 A.H.

4. ‘Al Ittihafat us Sunniya bil Ahadith ul Qudsiya’: This was compiled by Shaykh Muhammad Mahmud al Madani and contains 853 Hadiths. It was compiled on the style of ‘Jami us Saghir’ of Imam Suyuti. It was published from ‘Dairat ul Ma’rif un Nizamia’, Hyderabad in 1323 A.H. At the end of this compilation is 4 page article by its proof reader Shaykh Qadi Muhammad Shareefuddin Faruqi titled ‘Al Khatima fi Sharh Ma’ni al Hadith ul Qudsi’ in which he presents a concise but excellent discussion on Hadith al Qudsi.

5. ‘Al Ahadith al Qudsiya’: This book contains 400 Hadiths from the Six Authentic Books {‘Sihah Sittah’} and Muwatta Imam Malik and was published by ‘Al Majlis ul A’la’, Cairo, Egypt in 1389 A.H.

6. ‘Miftah ul Kunuz wa Misbah ur Rumuz’: This book was compiled by Shaykh Muhammad bin Ahmad bin Muhammad at Tibrizi. Haji Khalifa also mentioned this book in his ‘Kashf uz Zunun’. It contains 40 Hadiths which have been annotated according to the principles of ‘Tasawwuf’ and Sufis.

Written by Allama Usayd al Haq Asim Qadri Badayuni as Introduction to his famous book 'Ahadith al Qudsiya in Urdu'. The book was translated by Basharath Ali Siddiqui Ashrafi into English and was published by 'Taj al Fuhul Academy', Badayun in 2010 C.E. More than 3 Editions of its Translations have been published so far from different parts of India.